The Dudleys!
Opening Night: October 8, 2016
Closing: October 29, 2016
Theater: HERE Arts Center
NYC premiere. In The Dudleys!, family memories are brought to life as a malfunctioning 8-bit video game. The Dudleys dodge ghosts, undying zombies and evil Aunts side-scrolling through the neighborhood as they try to win a game that might not be for winning. Featuring original chiptune music and life size 8-bit video animation, The Dudleys! is a story of family, regret, and the games we play to get by. Press start. Play the Dudleys. Created by Leegrid Stevens Directed by Jacob Titus and Leegrid Stevens Choreographed by Melinda Rebman Video Design by Reid Farrington Lighting Design by Simon Cleveland Set Design by Jonathan Cottle Costume Design by Heather Carey Sound Design by Dana Haynes Prop Design by Justin Cox Video Programming by John Erickson Chiptune Music composed by Leegrid Stevens Cast includes Amy Bizjak*, Joe Burby*, Roger Casey*, Kevin Delano, Ariel Estrada*, Marlowe Holden, Erik Kochenberger, Lynnsey Ooten*, Karsten Otto, Scott Thomas* and Erin Treadway *These actors are appearing courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association
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October 12, 2016
A vintage video game opens a portal into a fractured family’s past in “The Dudleys!,” a meandering, quirky comedy-drama by Leegrid Stevens presented by the Loading Dock Theater. In one corner of the set at HERE Arts Center is squeezed a facsimile of a typical teenager’s bedroom, complete with an old-style tube television and a game console. As the play begins, a character referred to only as the Gamer enters and fires up the controls. Or rather is ordered to by the zombielike figure who stumbles onstage: Dead Tom (Joe Burby), who we will soon learn is the Dudley clan’s father. He’s now, as his nickname suggests, dead, but somehow still able to manipulate his family from beyond the grave. Soon scenes from the family’s past are springing to life in the center of the stage, mostly a blank space against the back wall on which elaborate video projections race by. The chronology is rather fuzzy, but much of the play takes place in the immediate aftermath of Tom’s death. He is survived by his wife, Clara (Erin Treadway), who chirpily discusses over dinner who will pick up his ashes. She’s working today — and, oh, she’s decided to convert from the family’s Mormon religion to Judaism. “I have found that I really like the people,” she explains. “They’re good thinkers.”
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